Within a couple of months, well be able to piss away time on the Internet everywhere.

Everybody wants to know what this new Apple iPad means. Is it the salvation of the media? The end of the personal computer? Is it merely the most uncomfortable product name in recent memory?

Im sympathetic to the head-scratching. If all that hype turned out to mean nothing, wed be cast into some kind of existential crisis. So Ill tell you what the iPad means.

The iPad means that, within a couple of months, there will be no physical position in which we wont be able piss away time on the Internet.

Lets consider this for a moment.

These are the days of iPad backlash. Its perfectly understandable before it was unveiled, people were routinely referring to it as the Jesus tablet. Inevitably, the iPad didnt prove to be as revolutionary as some had hoped. It amounts to an oversized touch-screen iPod, and completely lacks the ability to cure leprosy. (Though I understand someones working on an app.)

However, its size and its ability to work really well at that size is all the innovation it needs. With its 10-inch screen, the iPad will be a window onto the Internet and all its riches, to say nothing of the music, movies and books that Apple would like to sell you. The iPad will be a device for consuming content, consuming lots of it, and consuming it anywhere.

But dont we have this already? Its been pointed out, by pundits and thoughtful observers alike, that the iPad is a middle-child device. Its not small and portable like a smartphone, or big and practical like a notebook. But like caulk, a well-designed tablet will fill up the gaps in daily life where neither antecedent quite fits.

Consider the couch. Laptops are still ungainly things; sharing what youre doing with someone sitting at the other end of the couch becomes a dance of cradling creaking screens, avoiding hot surfaces, and not garotting the cat with the power cord. Smartphones, no matter how shiny, still require people to squint at small print.

A well-implemented tablet, on the other hand, offers screen space enough for two people to watch at once, along with the cordless, throw-it-around form of an iPod. Its simple, its social, and it cuts down on the tiny real-world annoyances that prevent people from being at home with technology.

The Internet is no longer trapped in a boxy monitor, on a table in the corner of one room in the house

Apple knows this. Clearly, its pitching the product as an around-the-house convenience. Its centrepiece promotional video for the iPad is full of models on couches, using the thing in increasingly languid states of recline. As hands glide over the iPads surface, pinching, flicking and dragging, an Apple vice-president in casual wear pops up to share some thoughts: For the same reasons that it just feels right to hold a book or a magazine in your hands as you read them, it just feels right to hold the Internet in your hands and here he pauses, his eyes going a bit googly as you surf it.

As a rule, Apple vice-presidents should not gush about getting handsy with the Internet, especially when wearing zip-up sweaters. The man, however, has a point. The Internet is no longer trapped in a boxy monitor, on a table in the corner of one room in the house. In fact, its not even confined to cyberspace any more. The Internet is becoming palpable.

In the days of desktops, the only way to surf the Web was to stay sitting. But when laptops came about, one could surf while reclining, lounging, stooping, sprawling, loafing, and lying flat on ones back, metabolizing. But this was nothing next to smartphones, which we now use while perambulating, stretching, strolling, sprinting, jumping, shopping, toweling, and, in especially bad cases, reproducing.

And even then, phones and iPods are still small and awkward, so now we have a tablet that's perfect for the couch, and the restaurant table, and the party, and the lecture hall; for reading in the bathroom, for floating in space, and possibly for using in the space-bathroom. Who knows the future is grand.

I think these will be successful machines, and I want one, irrespective of the fact that I dont need one and cant afford one. (Behold, the magic of Apple.) And yet I watch these devices colonize my waking hours with increasing ambivalence. Embodied in shiny Apple products, and the products of Apples imitators, the Internet follows us around like a determined terrier, loveable and impossible to put down. There is no escape; only abstinence.

The iPad isnt a gadget: Its the Web incarnate. Toteable, fun and painless, it will be the ultimate tool for scarfing down online content. And it arrives at a time when were only just starting to have the conversation about whether consuming vast amounts of online content is really any better than consuming vast amounts of television.

The question, in the end, isnt whether you want to spend hundreds of dollars on a new tablet computer. Its about whether you really want the Internet lying around the house like that.

I think the key to success for the iPad is obviously media consumption. Think about the possibilities for books and magazines. Take a cookbook for example, not only will you have the recipes stored in the book on a e-page, there will also be multimedia built in with videos with Gordon Ramsey demonstrating how to cook a certain dish or even an "email ingredients to my iPhone" button so when you go to the store, you have everything. Simple, robust. Think more about apps and info being one touch away rather than having to input keywords, as in the current desktop or laptop experience. As long as the media companies jump on this and exploit the iPad's potential, this device will revolutionize how we consume media.

Ads in a "book"? Yuck. The prices are a ripoff, anyone who doesn't see that is either loaded or a fanboy.

Probably no ads in books you pay $$ for but other media for sure. It's your choice not to buy an iPad, I don't see myself using one. By the way, I'm not an apple fanboy, I'm a computer programmer and use Linux.

Most certainly do. And with 60% or more of computer sales being laptops, few people actually need an iPad; it doesn't do anything people can't do already. It just does a few things better, is all.

The only thing I see the iPad to be better for is when using it while standing up. Laptops are pretty unusable in that case and the iPad clearly comes out ahead. Everywhere else I think laptops are easier to use, because everywhere else there's somewhere to place the laptop on top of. When I'm lying down on a couch or bed reading a book, my arms get pretty tired holding the book in front of me after an hour or so. It's much better to have a laptop in front of me because it just sits there without me having to hold it. iPads will have the same problem. You could use the kickstand case to sit it on your lap but it would be pretty wobbly and still won't have a keyboard. Or you could use it with the keyboard dock while sitting or lying on a couch/bed but if you are going to do that...might as well use a laptop anyway. So I suppose the iPad solves the problem of using a computer while standing up? That's pretty limited...

... When I'm lying down on a couch or bed reading a book, my arms get pretty tired holding the book in front of me after an hour or so. It's much better to have a laptop in front of me because it just sits there without me having to hold it. iPads will have the same problem. You could use the kickstand case to sit it on your lap but it would be pretty wobbly and still won't have a keyboard. Or you could use it with the keyboard dock while sitting or lying on a couch/bed but if you are going to do that...might as well use a laptop anyway. ...

Be serious. If I am lying on my couch, then I will be able to place the iPad on my belly and prop it up with one hand to read the screen. Not exactly a Herculean task. The notion that I can use a laptop hands-free while lying on a couch is pure fantasy.

Equally fantastic is your assertion about reading in bed. I have tried using my laptop in bed. If I sit up on the bed with the legs curled under me, then yes. If I have the space beside me, I can move a pillow and place a laptop where a pillow is supposed to be. But, there is nothing natural or natural-like about using a laptop while in bed. Reading a book or magazine is a much better experience. I expect the iPad to be even easier because, like a laptop, it will provide its own light. No need to turn on the lights to use the device.

The only thing I see the iPad to be better for is when using it while standing up. Laptops are pretty unusable in that case and the iPad clearly comes out ahead. Everywhere else I think laptops are easier to use, because everywhere else there's somewhere to place the laptop on top of. When I'm lying down on a couch or bed reading a book, my arms get pretty tired holding the book in front of me after an hour or so. It's much better to have a laptop in front of me because it just sits there without me having to hold it. iPads will have the same problem. You could use the kickstand case to sit it on your lap but it would be pretty wobbly and still won't have a keyboard. Or you could use it with the keyboard dock while sitting or lying on a couch/bed but if you are going to do that...might as well use a laptop anyway. So I suppose the iPad solves the problem of using a computer while standing up? That's pretty limited...

You're looking at it solely from an ergonomic standpoint.

The iPad can be left comfortably on your coffee table and not be an eyesore. You can pick it up like you would a magazine and it's instantly on. It doesn't have to be opened and you don't need to situate yourself to make room for it to rest in your lap. You navigate on the screen with your fingers, which is far more elegant than using a trackpad — especially from the couch. It's theoretically light enough to hold in the air when you just need to check something briefly, before setting it back down. And maybe most importantly, the touchscreen and the well-designed new application interfaces that accompany it just look to be a much more fun, enjoyable experience for Safari, Mail, and Photo-viewing.

Is it a necessary device for people, capable of things they can't already do with what they have? No, but neither are automatic doors and power windows.

The iPad can be left comfortably on your coffee table and not be an eyesore. You can pick it up like you would a magazine and it's instantly on. It doesn't have to be opened and you don't need to situate yourself to make room for it to rest in your lap. You navigate on the screen with your fingers, which is far more elegant than using a trackpad — especially from the couch. It's theoretically light enough to hold in the air when you just need to check something briefly, before setting it back down. And maybe most importantly, the touchscreen and the well-designed new application interfaces that accompany it just look to be a much more fun, enjoyable experience for Safari, Mail, and Photo-viewing.

Is it a necessary device for people, capable of things they can't already do with what they have? No, but neither are automatic doors and power windows.

I'm average and I will buy one. Ok, maybe a little bit other than average but a product that I can carry multiple books around and have the web. This thing has leisure written all over it, and I'm all about leisure.

Be serious. If I am lying on my couch, then I will be able to place the iPad on my belly and prop it up with one hand to read the screen. Not exactly a Herculean task. The notion that I can use a laptop hands-free while lying on a couch is pure fantasy.

Equally fantastic is your assertion about reading in bed. I have tried using my laptop in bed. If I sit up on the bed with the legs curled under me, then yes. If I have the space beside me, I can move a pillow and place a laptop where a pillow is supposed to be. But, there is nothing natural or natural-like about using a laptop while in bed. Reading a book or magazine is a much better experience. I expect the iPad to be even easier because, like a laptop, it will provide its own light. No need to turn on the lights to use the device.

If you are lying in bed with your back propped up by a pillow, what's wrong with placing the laptop on your outstretched legs? When in that position, if I were to choose between holding a book with one hand, and using a laptop that doesn't require holding at all, I prefer the laptop. This is from personal experience, not speculation. This is assuming a light (<5lbs), cool-running laptop, but those are pretty common. Sure, reading in bed holding a book sounds pretty comfortable, but after an hour or two arm strain definitely sets in.

If you are lying in bed with your back propped up by a pillow, what's wrong with placing the laptop on your outstretched legs? ...

You do understand that you have discredited your original thesis. It is intuitive and natural to "curl-up with a good book." You are asking me to stretch-out with a laptop. I submit to you that it is better and more intuitive to "curl-up with an iPad." Make no mistake. The 1.5 pound iPad will give the user many more options to be comfortable than any 5 pound laptop ever could. Say your arm will get tired after an hour? Well, the iPad will require only one hand to hold it. You don't have to hold your arm in the air while using your iPad. After an hour, switch arms.

You do understand that you have discredited your original thesis. It is intuitive and natural to "curl-up with a good book." You are asking me to stretch-out with a laptop. I submit to you that it is better and more intuitive to "curl-up with an iPad." Make no mistake. The 1.5 pound iPad will give the user many more options to be comfortable than any 5 pound laptop ever could. Say your arm will get tired after an hour? Well, the iPad will require only one hand to hold it. You don't have to hold your arm in the air while using your iPad. After an hour, switch arms.

What do you mean by curl up? Do you mean lying on your side? I almost never read books in bed that way and I don't think that's what people usually do. I think what's usually done is lying on your back, propped up by pillows, with your legs stretched out in front of you.

What do you mean by curl up? Do you mean lying on your side? I almost never read books in bed that way and I don't think that's what people usually do. I think what's usually done is lying on your back, propped up by pillows, with your legs stretched out in front of you.

There are more things under Heaven and Earth that are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.